A variety of beach towel devices exist that include built-in head rest means, such as that found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,980,935 to Kazanowski et al. on Jan. 1, 1991; 4,546,507 to Weinstein on Oct. 15, 1985; 4,231,125 to Tittl on Nov. 4, 1980; 4,200,942 to Case on May 6, 1980; 3,689,947 to Wolf on Sep. 12, 1972; and Des. 280,170 to Short on Aug. 20, 1985. Such devices typically have a pocket for receiving a pillow. While such devices are suitable for providing additional comfort to the user over that of a conventional beach towel by providing a pillow, there is little provision for storing other items with the pillow. Typically such devices provide only enough room for the pillow, with little room left over for storing other items such as keys, wallets, and the like. If one were to store such items with the pillow, the outline of such items would in many cases be readily visible to passers by. Further, the opening for inserting the pillow into a pocket of such devices is generally in plain sight, which makes any valuable items in the pocket more susceptible to theft.
Other prior art beach towel devices, such as that taught in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,264,471 to Glenn on Dec. 2, 1941, and Des. 258,035 to Fenwick on Jan. 27, 1981, teach a beach towel with a pocket for storing items other than pillows. However, such pockets are again readily apparent to casual observers, and tend to direct attention to the outlines visible in the fabric of such devices of any items that may be stored therein. Such devices increase the probability of theft of the stored articles since such stored articles are visibly apparent. Further, these types of pillow-less devices do not provide a comfortable means for resting one's head.
Clearly, then, there is a need for a beach towel device that includes a comfortable pillow, and further provides a hidden storage compartment for storing valuables that is not readily visible to casual observers. When keys or other rigid items are stored in the storage compartment, the pillow would be positioned between such items and the user's head. Further, such a needed device would be readily rolled-up into a convenient carrying configuration, and would be washable upon removing the pillow. The present invention fulfills these needs and provides further related advantages.